Die Entstehung der Mondkrater [The Formation of Lunar Craters]

Braunschweig: Druck und Verlag von Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, 1921. First Edition. Pamphlet. Very good. A notable paper on the impact origin of moon craters. Wegener considers the three leading explanations at the time-the bubble or explosion hypothesis, the tidal hypothesis, and the volcanic hypothesis-and finds them inadequate. He then elaborates his own theory of projectile hypothesis, which he simulated by impacting cement projectiles into cement dust and comparing the results to known data about moon crater shape and proportions (several plates are based on photographs of the results).

Wegener is most well-known today for his pioneering work on continental drift but he made important contributions to a number of fields, including this work on astrophysics. A crater on the dark side of the moon is named for him.

48 pages, plus three black-and-white photographic plates. Published as no. 55 in the Sammlung Vieweg Tagesfragen aus Naturwissenschaften und Technik series.

For more information, see Afred Wegener and the Origin of Lunar Craters (Earth Sciences History, vol. 17, no. 2, 1998) by Mott Greene. First edition (first printing). A bit of chipping to the wrappers, but generally very good. With the ownership stamps (several) of the French anthropologist, Joseph Nippgen, who has neated added French translations above a few German words.